Jelly drinks have been known for a long time. For example, Black Grass jelly drink is a traditional Chinese jelly drink. This led to the idea that pieces or bits of a jelly-type substance could be used in a liquid composition to give eye appeal, texture and other aesthetic advantages.
Jelly-type substances of the type referred to herein are hydrated hydrocolloids that can be incorporated into liquid compositions. In particular, liquid beverages are generally acidic and usually have a pH between about 2.5 and 6.0.
Japanese Patent Application No. 03130061 filed on Jun. 3, 1991 discloses manufacturing methods for gel-containing acidic cold beverages. The gel particles disclosed therein are transparent and are suspended, for example, in a fruit juice beverage or a coffee drink.
It is difficult to color jelly-type substances that are to be incorporated into beverages because the color leaches into the surrounding liquid. Specifically, water soluble colors that might be used to color jelly-type substances will leach out into the surrounding beverage at an acidic pH. Since the only artificial colors that are permitted for general use in the food industry in the United States are water soluble, artificial colors are not useful for coloring jelly-type substances.
Lake colors are water soluble colors that have been precipitated onto an aluminum hydroxide support and are generally considered to be water-insoluble. However, lake colors are only water-insoluble at a neutral pH. At a low pH, such as that found in most beverages, the alumina dissolves and the water soluble color diffuses into the surrounding liquid beverage.
It would, therefore, be desirable to incorporate a stable color into a jelly-type substance so that the jelly-type substance can be incorporated into a liquid composition at an acidic pH.
It is a goal of the invention to provide colored jelly-type substances.
It is another goal of the invention to provide colored jelly-type substances that can be incorporated into liquid compositions.
It is a further goal of the invention to provide colored jelly-type substances wherein the color is stable when the substance is incorporated into a liquid composition having an acidic pH.
Still other goals and advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part be apparent from the specification.